Daily Web Updates/
Summary and AnalysisIISD Reporting Services (IISD RS) has produced daily web updates and a summary and analysis from this Session. To download our report, click the HTML or PDF icons below.

Opening the sixth session of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Monday morning, 9 December 2013, OWG Co-Chair Macharia Kamau, Kenya, welcomed the outcome of the recent meeting in Bali, Indonesia, of the Doha Round under the World Trade Organization. Co-Chair Csaba Kőrösi, Hungary, described the parallel work of Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICSDF). Kamau gave a brief overview of the “long pipeline of work” on the post-2015 development agenda between now and 2015, and clarified that the report on SDGs will be synthesized with other relevant reports, and presented by the Secretary-General to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 2014. The work of the OWG will continue to be on SDGs, he stressed, and will focus on issues and targets around which to mobilize the means to achieve goals.

The OWG proceeded to hear statements from experts on the OWG 6 agenda items, from the Co-Chair of the ICSDF, and from representatives of government coalitions, the OWG member groups, and Major Groups. Erik Solheim, Chair, OECD Development Assistance Committee, said official development assistance (ODA) needs reform to account for the role of Middle Income Countries (MICs) and the need to better direct money. To this end, he said OECD is considering: reform of the concept of ODA, which currently “disincentivizes success;” widening the concept of financial flows for development; and measuring impact, not only effort. Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Director General of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), said sharing scientific knowledge bridges cultures and promotes peace. Heuer proposed SDG targets for global and national investment in science, research and development (R&D), and STEM education. Martin Khor, Executive Director, South Centre, recommended that means of implementation (MOI) be included in each SDG and a separate chapter. He suggested: capacity building on using flexibilities within TRIPS agreements; creating a global “pool” to increase access to environmentally sound technologies; assessing a technology before developing and transferring it; and a recommendation from the OWG to establish a technology facilitation mechanism. Pertti Majanen, Finland, Co-Chair of the ICSDF, said the OWG and the Committee are “sister processes,” and outlined areas of growing consensus among the Committee’s experts, including: forming a comprehensive and integrated financing strategy; guaranteeing financing is available to achieve the MDGs; the need to find innovative means to finance the SDGs; and looking into the financing of larger environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity, and desertification. He stressed the urgency of eradicating poverty and addressing environmental concerns.

IISD RS summary and analysis of the Third session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 22-24 May 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)

IISD RS briefing note of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Integration Meeting on Achieving Sustainable Development – “Integrating the Social, Economic and Environmental Dimensions”, 13 May 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (HTML - PDF)